Our Weekend

Hello All!  Another weekend is here!  Going through a deployment, I've been counting how many Sundays we have left.....and while I can't say the exact number, we got some exciting news this weekend that changed how many we have left :) :)  I love weekends, and in about 4 weeks, we will be moving back to Gulfport.  While we are here, we are trying to soak in being this close to family while we can.  My parents have been gone the past couple weekends with my brother.  They travel with a Big Shots basketball team to national tournaments to play for scouts.  My hope is that one day, Easton will have the same love of sports that Scott does, and Josh and I will be doing the same thing :)  So, while they have been gone, we have enjoyed weekends spent with my grandparents.
Friday night, we went to my "guilty pleasure" spot....CHILI'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love me some Chili's and I could eat it everyday if possible!  After we got home, Kait helped me start working on another homecoming sign.  I have made several signs, trying to find that perfect one that I want to take with us in a couple weeks :)  My goal was to incorporate something with me and Easton both.

Here is the sign that we have started.  I am still going to am some text, more or less thinking something simple like "Welcome Home, Daddy!" Don't want too much as not to take away from the handprints

 

This is a sign that I made the other day while just playing around.  Like I said, I am really playing to get that "perfect" sign.  While I know to J, what sign we have won't matter, I still want it to be perfect.
Besides being in shock over the news we received about Josh and coming home and being all excited, Easton and I went shopping to get him some "big boy" tennis shoes.  Most of the shoes he has right now were all sandals and Toms.  He has extremely fat feet, so they are really hard to fit, but with him becoming more active, I wanted him to have a pair of tennis shoes.  And what shoes are better for a little boy than an adorable pair of Nike Air Max shoes?!

Ahhhh...I am in love... and I know a Daddy that will be, too, along with an Uncle that already is :)  Uncle Scott is really trying to mold Easton into his little athlete :)
The rest of our weekend is expected to be low key.  I have exams for my summer classes due on Wednesday, and will spend the majority of tomorrow focusing on that.  Tomorrow is also "All American Sunday" at our church.  We already had something scheduled for the Sunday of the week of July 4th, so they scheduled it for this weekend.  While we don't make it to church every Sunday due to Easton's nap schedule, I am really striving to make it tomorrow.  I've always been proud to be an American, but having a husband serving overseas, makes your heart swell with pride that much more.  I love my husband more than words could ever express and I am so proud of the work that he, and everyone over there, is doing!!!!!  Have a wonderful Sunday, Y'all!!!

Wednesday

Life hasn't been very blog worthy here lately.  We've been doing pretty much the same thing, just a different day.
However, we have had some fun days.  Last Thursday, Easton went to the "big pool" for the first time.  We are members at our local country club, and hadn't taken advantage of the membership thus far this summer.  Easton LOVED the pool!  There were several kids in the baby pool when we first got there, so I took him to the big pool first.  He splashed, kicked, and had a ball!

Saturday, we had our annual Crowder Family Reunion.  It was a great time, however, we were sad that we were missing several family members this year.  Since it was so close to the 4th of July, they used patriotic decorations, and Easton had a blast while they were cleaning up.

Other than that, we have hung low.  I have worked on school work, worked on homecoming signs, and finally broke down and ordered Easton and I homecoming shirts for Josh's homecoming!  I am so anxious to get them in!!!  It makes me so excited to finally be to this point.  We are constantly looking at houses, condos, townhomes, and apartments trying to find the perfect place to call home.  We have yet to find it.  Once we finally get that finalized, I will finally be fully excited!!!!!!!!!!!  (I'm slightly stressed that nothing has came up yet....)
Happy Wednesday, Y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4th of July

Happy FOURTH Everyone and Happy Birthday, America!
I always love the 4th of July!  Growing up, we would always go to the local Minor League Baseball game, watch Fireworks, eat way too much ice cream, and shop during the day.  Two years ago, I was fortunate enough to be up in Washington, D.C. for the 4th.  It was amazing!  Josh was stationed on Bolling Air Force Base, and we got to watch the fireworks on base, right over the capital.  Needless to say, it was AMAZING!!

Leaving the firework show.  For some reason, this is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us :)

This year, the fourth of July has taken on a new meaning.  I have always been proud to be an American, but this year, that pride has swelled.  Today, I'm not only proud to be an American, but I am also proud of my Husband.  My husband is currently stationed overseas, fighting to keep this great land free.  Without the bravery of our soldier, this land wouldn't be free, it wouldn't be the place we are so proud to call home. I cannot put into words how proud I am of my husband and the work, he and all the soldiers over there are doing!  

Some pictures from today.  We didn't do too much, but we did had to get some quick pictures  :)

This weeks been a hard week for me.  Monday was Josh's birthday.  I wanted so badly just to wake up to him.  Tell him Happy Birthday, make him breakfast, make him feel special all day.  And while I did everything I could do, it's hard to celebrate a birthday in two different places, that just happen to be around 7,000 miles apart.  Today, my family had a cookout with some other families.  Couples and kids came over, and while I loved having everyone here, it was hard because at the same time, I wanted my husband here!  I wanted us to be one of the couple here!  I can't tell you how much I miss just being able to pick up the phone and call or text Josh.  Little things you take for granted while someone is here, would mean everything when you can't do it.   

I hope all of you guys had a wonderful day, enjoyed celebrating!  For now, for me, Easton's asleep and I'm off to do some homework and watch the fireworks on TV  :)

Happy Birthday, Josh!!!!!

Today is Josh's Birthday.  So first and foremost, I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my husband, my best friend, my everything!  Josh is my rock, and is an amazing Daddy to our sweet baby boy!!!!

These are pictures from Josh's birthday two years ago!  He was stationed in DC and I flew up to send the week with him!  Us and some friends rented a cabin outside of DC and had a great time together!  Last year,  we spent his birthday traveling to see his family in Kentucky.
This year, we are 7,000 miles apart.  I really struggled on how to make his birthday "special" even though I couldn't be with him.  I decided to order a cookie cake (his favorite) from the grocery store here and ship it to him, along with some cupcakes and cookies to match to share (since I knew he wouldn't share the cookie cake).  I also sent balloons, candles, and a bunch of other "birthday" surprises to help me properly celebrate his day over there!  We were fortunate to get to skype today and he got to see both Easton and I.  While not how you would ideally want to celebrate, after being gone 5 months and dealing with minimal internet coverage, it was nice to just get to see him and talk for a while today!  Fingers crossed next year we are together to celebrate!

It's Ok/Thankful Thursday

While thinking about everything going on right now, I thought linking up with Neely would be a great way to remind myself that no matter what is going on, and how stressed and overwhelmed I might get, there is always good somewhere!

It's OK.....
-that some nights when I can't sleep, I watch Desperate Housewives reruns on Netflix.  They're always good for a good laugh
-to eat a couple small pieces of chocolate when it's been one of those days!  (I ran them off later today...so I don't feel quite so guilty)
-that anytime Easton whines in his sleep, I keep my fingers crossed that he won't wake up.  I just want one week to sleep through the night.  Is that too much to ask for?!?!
-I'm so excited to see "Magic Mike" with some girlfriends!  I may have been counting down the days for the past week or so...
-that I watch "Coming Home" on Lifetime and ball my eyes out every week.  I need that to remind me what comes at the end of this deployment, and what is only a couple of months away for me.

Thankful for....
-my husband being safe.  Today marks FIVE months since he's left, and I am so thankful everyday that he is safe and the people from his battalion that he is stationed with are safe, too.
-another month down in the deployment book!  Each day we get closer!!  And now we are almost under the  two month mark!!!!!
-a healthy child.  Even if we have power struggles, temper tantrums, and meltdowns, Easton is happy and healthy.
-a great family.  We have been staying with my family since J left, and even though it was hard moving in, they have been so much help and provided so much support.  It will be bittersweet to leave once Josh gets home.  We will be so happy to have Josh home, but I will miss being so close to family.  12 hours is hard....

Blahhhhh...

I apologize for this blog post, but it's been one of THOSE weeks.  It's never seemed to end!
This week has truly tested me in so many ways.
First, school.  I wanted to take summer classes this summer to lighten my load for the fall.  After the spring semester, I lacked 5 courses to graduate.  Well, this fall, I knew we would be moving, welcoming Josh back home, getting settled in, etc, etc, etc that I wouldn't have time to tackle five courses.  So, I decided to take two this summer.  While I know in the long run, it will be beneficial, it has drained me.
I've also been feeling like I'm not good enough as a mom. I know this might sound crazy, but as a single parent (for now) I feel like any time Easton has a meltdown or a temper tantrum, it is a reflection on me as a mother.  We are in the midst of a power struggle.  Easton is only 13.5 months, but he tries to act so much older.  He's been walking for upwards of three months now, so of course he's into everything.  This week, he has decided he doesn't want to take his afternoon nap.  Today, I decided that we would start the transition of only one longer nap a day.  I planned on laying him down somewhere between 11-12, but at 10, he was ready for a nap.  When his normal 2pm afternoon nap rolled around, I laid him down, and he played for two hours.  By 6pm, he's done.  He's ready to go to bed, but if he goes that early, he would be up at 3am.  I keep him up, but it's a struggle.  He has also developed the temper of a two year old.  He is so hard headed, strong willed, and stubborn.  If he doesn't get his way, we have a throwing head back, wallering on the floor meltdown.  It's bad.  I feel like anytime this happens, I look like a horrible mom because I can't instantly make him stop.  Anytime J and I would go out before we had kids, I always said I wouldn't be THAT mom who has kids laying on the floor crying because they don't get their way.  But, I have eaten those words, and tonight, while eating dinner out at a local restaurant, I became that mom.  It got so bad, we finally had to leave.  Needless to say, I am ready to have both Mom and Dad back.  Then, maybe Josh and I can double team him and win.....At least I can keep telling myself that, right?!
Easton also has become the world's pickiest eater.  He eats two things.  Chicken and Yogurt.  For the first year of Easton's life, I was extremely strict about what he ate.  We tried to restrict him to mostly natural foods, organic if possible.  We tried not to feed many processed foods, and if possible, most foods we could, we got fresh.  Josh and I are both extremely vigilant in our diets, and while we know we can't completely restrict E from certain foods, we wanted him to grow up eating healthy foods (yes, I'm THAT mom).  He discovered chicken nuggets, and it was over.  That's all the wants.  Every meal.  I have tried multiple other things, but chicken is it.  If my child starts clucking around, I think I will know why.
I am really ready for the weekend.  A baby shower I am helping to throw is Sunday.  Maybe I will make it till then :)  

Strength

Today, I was trying to think of some cute ideas for something special for Josh for Father's Day.  We sent him some gifts over last week, and they got to Afghanistan in record time, so I wanted to do a little something special on the actual day.  I thought for a while, then finally came up with the idea of doing a PhotoStory over the course of Easton's life. 

From their first pictures together,

To one last pictures before Josh left,

To our most recent "family" picture on Easton's First Birthday.

While looking back over all of these pictures, I started thinking back to life over Easton's first year.  When Easton was first born, Josh was stationed in DC completing a duty station with the Ceremonial Guard.  After we got married, he was "suppose" to only have 11 months left in DC, therefore, we opted not to get housing and we would just see each other on the weekends.  For the first EIGHT weeks of Easton's life, that's how it worked.  I stayed with Easton 5 days by myself during the week, then Josh would drive home on Friday night and leave back for DC on Sunday night.  I remember when Josh left that first weekend, I didn't know how I would make it until he came back home.  Here I was, a single mom for 5 days/nights, and it scared me so bad!  At the time, I thought this was the hardest thing in the world.  When Easton turned Eight weeks old, Josh left for A-School in Mississippi, we knew that we probably wouldn't see each other for eight weeks.  EIGHT WHOLE WEEKS BY MYSELF.  When faced with this, I didn't know how I would make it.  But somehow, we pulled through, and when Easton was four months old, we moved to Mississippi to FINALLY be a family!  While the joy was short lived, it was the best FIVE months I could have ever asked for.  While in Mississippi, Josh left for field exercises for two-four weeks.  Again, when faced with this, I didn't know how we would make it.  Here I was in this new city, and the only person I really knew was leaving me.  I didn't know what I would do to pass the time, outside of school work, and I wasn't sure how I would have time to get all my work done.  I remember calling my mom days during that first week, in tears not knowing how I would make it 10 more days.  10 days... REALLY??  I was crying over that?  Ha!  And before this deployment, I remember thinking the same things.  How in the world would we make it 8 months.  How would we stay connected/close?  Would we be able to talk?  Tons of questions and worry went through my mind.  I didn't know how Easton and I would make it that long on our own.  But today, I am proud to say we have made it TWENTY WEEKS by ourselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Twenty WHOLE weeks!!  Crazy!  I can't say every step has been easy, but we have made it!  Our weeks left are quickly dwindling and I am starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel!  We are going to make it through this!!  Not only are we going to have made it through this, but we are going to make it through this with flying colors!!!!  Josh and I are stronger than ever.  With communication skills limited, you learn to connect of different levels.  Our ways of communicating have improved two fold.  While I know we aren't done yet, I look back, and I can't help but be proud of how far we have come.  I was the girl that couldn't go one single day without crying because my husband wasn't home to going days without it bothering me.  Don't get me wrong, we still miss him and hurt that he's not here all the same, but we have grown stronger.  I never realized I could be strong enough to make it through this, but it's always amazing how far you can go when you have to!  Can't wait to celebrate Father's Day tomorrow!  Can't wait to enjoy the day with my Daddy and my grandfather!  But it's bittersweet!  I wish my son could celebrate with his father!  I wish I could show my husband how great of a Daddy he is!  Please remember those people, those fathers who are not with their families this day!  Being deployed is never easy, and it gets hard on days like this. 

Happy Father's Day to You, Josh!  We can't wait to celebrate YOU when you get home!